RyersonSonOfRyer wrote:Has anyone seen it yet?? If so, then post your thoughts!

I watched it. I am coming from the point of never having seen the three films. I read the book a few times years ago.

Its still much too long a movie. I can't imagine watching the uncut version. There are too many captures and escapes, etc. Too many of the same devices used over and over again. i.e. a main character almost dying, Bilbo doesn't want to be there, Thorin is a jerk... Also, there are some really cheesy lines of script.

I did some edits just for the fun of it and have cut an hour already. That's not to say I've made a better edit. Just that I've made it better for me to watch I guess. There is absolutely no screen time for Legolas or the girl elf. Not only as main characters, but as any type of character. I've made Smaug attack the city and then get killed toote suite. No Stephen Fry in my edit at all. (I don't even know what he's there for.) There's no spider fight and capture in the forest, just that Bilbo goes up top and while he's there the dwarves get captured. I cut out minor spots but still tried to keep fun things for the kids. Contemplating the removal of the troll scene or at least reducing it. But that is a fun kid scene. I wish there was a way to get them ponies without having to have ANY of the bear-man side plot. I might do that by jumping directly into Mirkwood some way. No false tension at the door scene... they miss the sun, then right to Bilbo seeing the keyhole in the moonlight. Nobody leaves or drops the key. No rock monsters and the false idea that Bilbo fell and needs to be saved. Why do that? We know he's going to live. They just walk in the storm and then go in the door. No Bilbo trying to sneak away. We already get enough info that he doesn't really like being there. No "earth eaters"... why have them anyway? They show up for 5 seconds and never play a part in anything again.

Remember, I'm using your edit and don't have other things to "put back in." Kind of fun. So far, the only saving grace of this movie is Martin Freeman.

Well...........I'm a little overwhelmed. From the looks of it, I don't think these films are for you at all, since you cut some things that were somewhat significant. This isn't a full finished version, and im still looking for reasonable ways to make the film shorter. But I'll most likely just split it into two parts or just throw an intermission halfway in like the extended LOTR films.[/quote]

No need to be overwhelmed. It's just another edit. And no, these films aren't for me, that's why I'm editing it! And I thank you for making your version available so I can give it a shot.

I think your idea of making it into two films makes sense, especially if you want to keep all the action pieces. The major action piece I cut was the spiders in Mirkwood and that seemed to work ok. I had to put back in more of Smaug and the destruction of the city as I cut too much. I don't know what other things you mean that are significant that I cut. It was pretty easy to cut Legolas and the elf girl without much fuss.

I tried a version with cutting the troll scene... not sure about that. Its a fun scene and shows Bilbo's first bit of bravery and quick thinking. Things are pretty dull since there is then no action at all until they get captured by the goblins. That's a long wait. So right now it is at 2 hours and 30 minutes. Not too bad. I'll watch it again later to see how it flows.

I can't remember, but whatever became of the Arkenstone? In your version it's journey ends up with the elf and the dragon-slayer. Does it ever show up again?[/quote]They don't even show what happens to the Arkenstone in the original version, but they will show it in the extended edition. We will see a scene where the ARKENSTONE is buried with Thorin.

nottheone wrote:No need to be overwhelmed. It's just another edit. And no, these films aren't for me, that's why I'm editing it! And I thank you for making your version available so I can give it a shot.

I think your idea of making it into two films makes sense, especially if you want to keep all the action pieces. The major action piece I cut was the spiders in Mirkwood and that seemed to work ok. I had to put back in more of Smaug and the destruction of the city as I cut too much. I don't know what other things you mean that are significant that I cut. It was pretty easy to cut Legolas and the elf girl without much fuss.

I tried a version with cutting the troll scene... not sure about that. Its a fun scene and shows Bilbo's first bit of bravery and quick thinking. Things are pretty dull since there is then no action at all until they get captured by the goblins. That's a long wait. So right now it is at 2 hours and 30 minutes. Not too bad. I'll watch it again later to see how it flows.

I can't remember, but whatever became of the Arkenstone? In your version it's journey ends up with the elf and the dragon-slayer. Does it ever show up again?

They don't even show what happens to the Arkenstone in the original version, but they will show it in the extended edition. We will see a scene where the ARKENSTONE is buried with Thorin.

Ah, yes. Thanks. It would be a good scene to have.

You did a bang-up job and some of the edits are very seamless. A difficult job, especially the battle part.

I keep hoping there will eventually be a just-the-book edit, with absolutely nothing added. That would leave only the over-reliance on CGI as a potential obstacle preventing me from giving the film a try.

Sadly I'm not going to do a fan edit myself, but if I did, I would remove truly massive portions, cut little stuff from practically everywhere, and generally tighten up things, with the goal of making a (gasp) fast-paced movie. There is no reason to give characterizations to most of the dwarves when they end up being largely interchangeable anyway. I wouldn't do a book edit because I would remove the dish-washing song, the eagles, and probably Beorn and not cut every little thing introduced by Peter Jackson. I genuinely like some of the things PJ put in the troll encounter, for example, and Bard picking up the characters after the barrel ride is inoffensive as well as necessary to avoid a plot hole.

Most of the PJ stuff would get the axe hard, however. I would even cut from the action scenes. I think the barrel fight for example was one of the more entertaining scenes in DoS, but that scene, being stupid and unnecessary, would be so gone, along with a vast majority of the rest of DoS. And the horribly bloated Battle of Five Armies would be cut beyond dramatically. I think PJ missed or ignored the unconventional nature of Tolkien's story. The endless overblown and unbelievable action scenes with super dwarves and super elves are a symptom of turning the classic book into as generic a Hollywood blockbuster as PJ could manage. Bigger isn't always better, and I think the Battle of Five Armies would be a lot better if it was made smaller and simpler and more plausible. I think it should probably even be possible to make the number of combatants seem fewer, maybe even get rid of the armored elves factor.

Removing Legolas (except for one line), Tauriel,the Dol Guldûr subplot, the chase under the mountain, and the LotR connections are of course a given. There would be so many things I would cut, including the entirety of Azog. This post only contains some examples.

I kind of regret that I'm not going to do a fan edit. I'm probably being arrogant, but I think I could just maybe make The Hobbit actually good, as well as belonging to a different genre (adventure, but not really action) and aimed for a different audience. I think my version would be more mature and subtle and as a side effect also more suitable for children.

I would love to see a fan edit with the arkenstone's fate added. As someone else said, I'd love to see the wereworms gone. They added nothing and were annoying. But it was Tauriel's dysfunctional relationship with Kili that killed the movie for me. I'd love to see what you've done, RyersonsonofRyer! Here's my email: loraleee@utetribe.com.

Hello everyone, I've taken a break from this for a while because I tragically lost all the movie files due to a virus on my computer. I have the computer fixed now, but now I am looking for a way to download torrents without worrying about being tracked by hackers and copyright infringement companies etc. Once I figure out all this technical stuff, i will make the best hobbit fan edit possible and make it much shorter than my last four hour one (im sorry, but I had to delete that one from my google account due to copyright problems, but I still have the original file stored on my external har drive). I will try and make this next edit much more like the book and yet still keep the pacing consistent. I will add in some BOTFA EE material, but I will be cutting much more from the BOTFA than I previously have. Thorin and Kili's and Filis deaths won't be shown once again (aside from when bilbo finds Thorin wounded and watches him die), but the funeral scene will be added and it will show their dead bodies as a surprise, letting the audience know the harsh reality of war. Some people don't make it. Main things that will be cut:- Azog as a character, in this he will be just some random tough orc that shows up a couple times- Frodo and that long drawn out history of the dwarves of Erebor, I'll add their backstory through other means- Radagast will not exist at all in this film- the white council and Gandalfs side quests will be removed- Tauriel and the love story will be gone, she is just some random female elf who has a line or 2 - most if not all of the corny gravity defying cgi rubbish will be removed - the river fight with the barrels will be completely gone- the dwarves entering the mountain before Smaug leaves, SMAUG never once sets his eyes on the dwarves, only bilbo- most of the fighting during BOFA- Legolas. He's just some elf with a few lines in this film. - Bolg is gone- bard getting arrested and a few of the dwarves getting left behind is gone. - Bards son assisting him in killing the dragon- the ridiculous "dragon sickness" that thorin had. It's not an actual sickness, Thorin is just being greedy and stubborn like he was in the book. The whole daydream falling in the golden floor scene was just rubbish IMO - all of the dumb connections to LOTRTHE film will also be color corrected and the pacing will be much faster. Some editing will be done to get rid of things like radagast on the eagle, bards son assisting him in killing the dragon, etcHopefully this will be done soon, but the way things are now, I can't expect this to be finished until the end of May most likely. Give me feedback on what you would like to be cut/edited and I will take it into consideration.